


Three times Charlotte was a good girl, and one time she was the best girl

by Nemainofthewater



Category: Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dogs, Fix-It, Fluff, Gen, Probably ooc, in fact definitely ooc, teeth rotting, written in about an hour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-25 05:01:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14371458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nemainofthewater/pseuds/Nemainofthewater
Summary: 'Woof' says the dog, wagging its, her?-Ben surreptitiously checks between its legs-her tail weakly.Caleb looks up with a sheepish grin, and Ben looks between the two pairs of wide, pleading, eyes.'Fine!' he says, throwing up his hands, 'But if you get caught I'm not the one explaining it to His Excellency!'Caleb brings home a dog, Ben is resigned, Hamilton is mistaken, Sackett is babysitting, Washington is Washington.Pure fluff with no real plot.





	Three times Charlotte was a good girl, and one time she was the best girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ThebanSacredBand](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThebanSacredBand/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Petite Amie](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14988266) by [ThebanSacredBand](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThebanSacredBand/pseuds/ThebanSacredBand). 



> For Charlotte who said that if I wanted fluffy fics then I should write them.

**Three times Charlotte was a good girl, and one time she was the best girl**

1.

‘Woof’ says the dog, wagging its, her?-Ben surreptitiously checks between its legs-her tail weakly.

Caleb looks up with a sheepish grin, and Ben looks between the two pairs of wide, pleading, eyes.

‘Fine!’ he says, throwing up his hands, ‘But if you get caught I’m not the one explaining it to His Excellency!’

Caleb punches the air in triumph, and Ben just knows that beneath his beard Caleb’s dimples are out in full force.

‘Didn’t I tell you Charlotte! Benny boy would never let us down.’

He pats the dog on the head, and she wags her tail even harder, making a thumping noise.

‘Charlotte?’ asks Ben.

‘Name of this girl I knew, out in York. Has the most beautiful-‘

‘Caleb!’ Ben hissed, ‘May I remind you that you are in the presence of not only a lady, but also a superior officer.’

Caleb blinks up innocently.

‘I dunno if I’d call you a lady Ben. Although with the time that you spend on your hair…’

There is a large THUMP, and Caleb falls back laughing as Ben abandons all propriety and tackles him.

 

2.

‘A dog, eh?’ says Sackett smiling benevolently down, ‘And you’ve had the foresight to find one that matches you, Major.’

Behind him, Caleb makes a snorting sound as Ben desperately tries to stop his blush. Charlotte pants beside him, her coat a lustrous gold that, unfortunately, was a very similar colour to his own hair.

‘Mr Sackett,’ Ben says, once again trying to regain control of the conversation, ‘I just need to know that you can keep Charlotte in your tent. It’s, well I share a tent, and strictly speaking, there isn’t any room for pets, in the army I mean not the tent-‘

Sackett holds up a hand, and Ben’s flow of words cuts off. He kneels carefully and looks into Charlotte’s warm brown eyes.

The golden retriever stares back, and then, having made up her mind, promptly licks him on the nose.

‘Charlotte!’ cries Ben, ignoring Caleb’s exclamation of: ‘That’s my girl!’

Sackett smiles up from where he had fallen over in surprise and starts caressing Charlotte’s ears.

‘Oh, I suppose something can be arranged if you insist Major,’ he says. ‘Charlotte, come.’

And Charlotte obediently trots to his side and sits against him, her tongue and eyes rolled back in her head in delight at the pampering she is receiving.

Ben turns to Caleb.

‘When you said she followed you home…’he asks suspiciously.

‘Well, she might have followed me home from a Loyalist farm,’ Caleb admits, ‘But look at her Benny! There’s no way a good dog like that isn’t a Patriot!’

Ben sighs.

He wonders when his life became this ridiculous.

3.

‘Tallmadge!’

Ben hears the cry, and hurries on hoping that Hamilton hasn’t seen him. Rounding the corner, he narrowly dodges a stack of parchment, and beneath it, Hamilton.

‘Colonel Hamilton,’ Ben says saluting. Inwardly he groans. He has a feeling that he isn’t going to get out of this encounter without at least an hour’s worth of ranting from Hamilton.

‘Major!’ replies Hamilton joyfully, ‘I hear that congratulations are in order.’

‘Congratulations…?’ repeats Ben, not really wanting to know what the other man was talking about but knowing that there was no way he WASN’T going to find out, in great detail, and with five times as many words as needed to convey the pertinent details.

‘Why, yes! I hear you’ve got yourself a new mistress.’

At this Hamilton’s eyebrows, just visible, waggled dramatically, and Ben groaned audibly.

‘Sir, whatever you think you’ve heard…’

‘The lovely Charlotte!’ Hamilton continues, unperturbed at Ben’s interruption.

‘Now now,’ he says ignoring Ben’s spluttering, ‘The men talk, and you aren’t exactly quiet Tallmadge! Thumping and whining at all hours. I never thought you had it in man! Although, you may want to tell her to keep the howling down, I don’t mind of course but some of the others are abed as soon as night falls! Terrible really the lack of discipline in this army: why not even an hour ago I witnessed a private with his, ahem, privates hanging out if you can believe it-‘

Ben stood mortified as Hamilton’s words washed over him.

Next time Caleb took Charlotte for a walk in the woods, they were using Caleb’s tent to give her a bath!

 

 

+1

The sound of angry barks fills the air.

Ben runs out of the tent, not even thinking of the impropriety of running out on His Excellency.

Sutherland! The scoundrel. He had known that there was something wrong, and if only General Washington had listened to him.

Ben clenches his teeth so hard they ache, and redoubles his pace, listening fearfully for the sound of a gunshot.

He bursts into the tent, chest heaving, to find Charlotte, her normally placid eyes blazing, barking angrily at Sutherland. Sackett is beside her, determined, and holding a pistol on the other man.

‘I do believe we’ve caught our spy,’ he says grimly.

Ben moves quickly, restraining Sutherland, and forcing him to his knees. He removes his belt, and wraps it around the other man’s hands tightly: it isn’t much but should hold for now.

‘Well done mister Sackett,’ comes a voice from behind Ben. General Washington enters the tent, assessing the situation with a quick gaze before settling on Charlotte, her tail wagging hard enough that it was little more than a blur.

‘And I believe that congratulations are also in order to…?4 Washington trails off meaningfully looking down at the dog, who had decided that she wanted petting, and seeing as the other humans were busy had volunteered the General for the task.

‘Charlotte, sir, ‘ replies Ben.

‘Charlotte. I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure. I take it that she’s your dog Benjamin?’ Washington asks, brow arched inquisitively.

‘Yes, sir.’

Washington briefly rests his hand on Ben’s shoulder in something that is nearing approval.

‘Well Major, once again you have demonstrated the effectiveness of your ring. Do keep me informed about Sutherland.’

And with a quick caress to Charlotte’s ears, he sweeps out of the tent.

Ben is left with a valuable prisoner, his shell-shocked mentor, and a feeling that some great crisis has been narrowly averted.

‘Charlotte?’ he says firmly, waiting until she looked properly into his eyes, ‘Good girl.’

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Petite Amie](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14988266) by [ThebanSacredBand](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThebanSacredBand/pseuds/ThebanSacredBand)




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